Tamal Kundu
Even though ‘The Big Door Prize’ has fantasy, mystery, and science fiction elements embedded in its narrative, the series is firmly grounded in the relationships between its characters. The one between Father Reuben (Damon Gupton) and Hana (Ally Maki) may not be the focus of the story, but it’s arguably the most fascinating. They are both relatively new people in the town of Deerfield, who connect over their shared loneliness and complex past. If you are wondering whether Reuben and Hana end up together in ‘The Big Door Prize,’ we got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Reuben and Hana’s Fate
When the first season ends, Reuben and Hana have been forced to face certain problems and aren’t necessarily together. However, that doesn’t mean their story is at an end. If anything, with the second season already greenlighted and filmed, their story is only beginning.
Although Hana’s past is largely shrouded in mystery, we get a detailed account of what convinced Reuben to become a priest in episode 4. After attending Principal Pat’s wedding, Reuben and Hana go back to her bar, where in a moment of candidness, Reuben reveals that he used to be married. He had a happy life with his wife until she got sick and died. Reuben subsequently tried to find solace in alcohol but was truly lost at the time. This is when he found a life potential card that said “Priest.” Believing it to be a sign, Reuben underwent training and became a priest at Deerfield High.
However, when the Morpho machine appears in Deerfield, he decides to check his life potential after much hesitation. This time, he gets “Father.” Although others think this simply confirms that Reuben chose correctly and the mystical powers of the machine, he knows better. If the Morpho machine wanted to say priest, it would have said priest. A part of him wonders whether he made a mistake by choosing to be a preacher and was his real destiny was to be a father to a child.
In the course of the first season, Reuben and Hana connect. Her presence in his life increases his dilemma about whether he should continue to be a priest. Hana is a bit more guarded about the relationship between them. Although we don’t know much about her past, we know that it is connected to the Morpho machine.
In the season finale, Hana accidentally lets it slip out that she and Reuben met earlier. She was the bartender who threw him out right before he found the priest Morpho card. As Reuben accuses her of hiding this from him, she reminds him that he hadn’t told the town about what happened to his wife.
There are certain fundamental differences between Hana and Reuben, and they become glaringly obvious in this episode. Reuben has reached a point in his life when he is done running. That is not the case with Hana, who tries to leave Deerfield after her argument with Reuben. She nearly hits the deer from the previous episodes and soon realizes that she is at the spot where Kolton was killed. Hana subsequently decides to return to Deerfield, where the Morpho machine has undergone a change.
As the season ends, Hana and Reuben are not entirely on friendly terms. Reuben wants a relationship, while Hana, accustomed to her life without roots, finds what Reuben is offering her to be too much. But it seems that Deerfield isn’t done with her, nor is she done with Deerfield. As long as she is in town, there is a possibility for her and Reuben to revisit these matters and re-evaluate things with potentially different perspectives. The story doesn’t necessarily end here for Hana and Reuben. If anything, it undergoes a metamorphosis.
Read More: What Are the Blue Skin Dots in The Big Door Prize? Theories
